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Graphical abstract Abstract Here, a series of porous carbon based supercapacitor electrode materials have been synthesized by means of pyrolysis and hydrothermal methods combining with KOH activation using the biomass wastes mung bean husks as resources. The influence of synthesis process on the morphology, structure and supercapacitor performance of mung bean husks derived porous carbons has been investigated systematically. Especially, it is found that these oxygen-containing groups on the biochar play a crucial role in fabricating the three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous structure carbon. The original bio-structured porous carbon (PC 3-600), the 3D architecture porous carbon (HPC 2-700) and the porous carbon block (HPPC 2-700) have a high specific surface area, and the former mainly contains micropores and the latter two possess multistage pores. The specific capacitance of PC 3-600 , HPC 2-700 and HPPC 2-700 is respectively up to 390 F g−1, 353 F g−1, 304 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, and still maintains as high as 287 F g−1, 270 F g−1 and 235 F g−1 with corresponding retention ratio of 73.5%, 76.48%, 77.3% even at a high current density of 50 A g−1. HPC 2-700 //HPC 2-700 symmetric supercapacitor achieves a high energy density of 20.4 Wh kg−1 at 872 W kg−1 in 1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological effects of antibiotics in surface water have attracted increasing research attention. In this study, we investigated the combined ecotoxicity of erythromycin (ERY) and roxithromycin (ROX) on the microalgae, Chlorella pyrenoidosa , and the removal of ERY and ROX during the exposure. The calculated 96-h median effect concentration (EC 50) values of ERY, ROX, and their mixture (2:1 w/w) were 7.37, 3.54, and 7.91 mg∙L-1, respectively. However, the predicted EC 50 values of ERY+ROX mixture were 5.42 and 1.51 mg∙L-1, based on the concentration addition and independent action models, respectively. This demonstrated the combined toxicity of ERY+ ROX mixture showed an antagonistic effect on Chlorella pyrenoidosa. During the 14-d culture, low-concentration (EC 10) treatments with ERY, ROX, and their mixture caused the growth inhibition rate to decrease during the first 12 d and increase slightly at 14 d. In contrast, high-concentration (EC 50) treatments significantly inhibited microalgae growth (p < 0.05). Changes in the total chlorophyll contents, SOD and CAT activities, and MDA contents of microalgae suggested that individual treatments with ERY and ROX induced higher oxidative stress than combined treatments. After the 14-d culture time, residual Ery in low and high concentration Ery treatments were 17.75% and 74.43%, and the residual Rox were 76.54% and 87.99%, but the residuals were 8.03% and 73.53% in ERY+ ROX combined treatment. These indicated that antibiotic removal efficiency was higher in combined treatments than that in individual treatments, especially at low concentrations (EC 10). Correlation analysis suggested that there was a significant negative correlation between the antibiotic removal efficiency of C. pyrenoidosa and their SOD activity and MDA content, and the enhanced antibiotic removal ability of microalgae benefited from increased cell growth and chlorophyll content. Findings in this study contribute to predicting ecological risk of coexisting antibiotics in aquatic environment, and to improving biological treatment technology of antibiotics in wastewater. • The combined toxicity of ERY and ROX showed an antagonistic effect on C. pyrenoidosa. • Individual ERY and ROX treatments induced higher oxidative stress than combined treatments. • Antibiotic removal efficiency was higher in the combined treatments of ERY and ROX. • Removal ability was significantly correlated with cell growth and chlorophyll content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A high-efficiency and functional NiO/CeO 2 heterostructure nanocatalyst exhibits outstanding HER performance in 1 M KOH with a low overpotential of 99 mV at the current density of 10 mA•cm−2 and a modest Tafel slope of 78.4 mV dec−1. • The atomic-scale analysis of the interfacial structure and the locale electronic states have been provided by the combination of advanced electron microscopic characterization and first principle calculation. • It has been found that the charge transfer occurs from Ni to Ce at the interfacial region, resulting in the valence state variation and increased formation of V O and Ce3+ cations, which would optimize the ΔG H* and facilitate the hydrogen evolution process. • The improved HER performance could be attributed to synergistic coupling interactions and electron redistribution at the interface of NiO and CeO 2. To understand the underlying mechanism of the interfacial charge transfer and local chemical state variation in the nonprecious-based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts, a model system of the NiO/CeO 2 heterostructure was chosen for investigation using a combination of the advanced electron microscopic characterization and first-principles calculations. The results directly proved that interfacial charge transfer occurs from Ni to Ce, leading to reduction in the valence state of Ce and increased formation of V O. This would optimize ΔG H* and facilitate the hydrogen evolution process, resulting in outstanding HER performance in 1 M KOH with a low overpotential of 99 mV at the current density of 10 mA•cm−2 and a modest Tafel slope of 78.4 mV•dec−1 for the NiO/CeO 2 heterostructure sample. Therefore, the improved HER performance could be attributed to the synergistic coupling interactions and electron redistribution at the interface of NiO and CeO 2. These results concretely demonstrate the direct determination of the interfacial structure of the heterostructure and provide atomistic insights to unravel the underlying mechanism of interfacial charge transfer induced HER performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current persistent outbreak of COVID-19 is triggering a series of collective responses to avoid infection. To further clarify the impact mechanism of adaptive protection behavior and vaccination, we developed a new transmission model via a delay differential system, which parameterized the roles of adaptive behaviors and vaccination, and allowed to simulate the dynamic infection process among people. By validating the model with surveillance data during March 2020 and October 2021 in America, India, South Africa, Philippines, Brazil, UK, Spain and Germany, we quantified the protection effect of adaptive behaviors by different forms of activity function. The modeling results indicated that (1) the adaptive activity function can be used as a good indicator for fitting the intervention outcome, which exhibited short-term awareness in these countries, and it could reduce the total human infections by 3.68, 26.16, 15.23, 4.23, 7.26, 1.65, 5.51 and 7.07 times, compared with the reporting; (2) for complete prevention, the average proportions of people with immunity should be larger than 90%, 92%, 86%, 71%, 92%, 84%, 82% and 76% with adaptive protection behaviors, or 91%, 97%, 94%, 77%, 92%, 88%, 85% and 90% without protection behaviors; and (3) the required proportion of humans being vaccinated is a sub-linear decreasing function of vaccine efficiency, with small heterogeneity in different countries. This manuscript was submitted as part of a theme issue on "Modelling COVID-19 and Preparedness for Future Pandemics". • Impacts of adaptive protection and vaccination against COVID-19 were clarified. • Adaptive activity function with short-term awareness was a good fitting indicator. • Adaptive protection behaviors played big roles in preventing COVID-19 infections. • People with immunity were 71%–92% (77%–97%) with (without) adaptive protection. • Required vaccination is a sub-linear decreasing function of vaccine efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism (FOCM) plays a vital role in supporting cancer cells hyperproliferation. Malignant cells, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells, are characterized by rapid proliferation and thus need large numbers of nucleotides and nutrients generated from FOCM. However, the mechanism and key genes involved in FOCM playing a vital role in NPC progression are still unclear. This study aimed to find out the key gene, and its functions in NPC and explore the potential mechanism. Bioinformatics analysis based on TCGA and GSEA database were performed to screen the key FOCM related gene in HNSCC. The effects of MTHFD2 on cell proliferation, apoptosis and migration were conducted through MTHFD2 knockdown cell lines in vitro experiments. Cell proliferation was explored by CCK8 assay and colony formation assay. Cell apoptosis was tested through flow cytometry. Transwell migration assay was performed to study the cell migration. The potential pathway was explored by RNA-seq and the ERK inhibitor SCH772984 and the ERK activator tBHQ were applied to verify the effect of MTHFD2 in NPC via the ERK pathway. Finally, xenograft tumor model was used to explore the tumorigenicity of NPC cells in vivo and IHC was performed to study the expression of related proteins. MTHFD2 was highly expressed in NPC and associated with a poor prognosis. MTHFD2 knockdown inhibited the proliferation, migration and induced apoptosis of NPC cells in vitro. In consistent with cellular results, knockdown of MTHFD2 suppressed the tumorigenicity of NPC cells in vivo. MAPK pathway was enriched among DEGs between MTHFD2 knockdown cells and control cells. And the level of p-ERK1/2 and p-p38 MAPK was decreased in MTHFD2 knockdown cells and xenograft tumors of MTHFD2 knockdown cells. Furthermore, the application of the selective ERK inhibitor SCH772984 and the ERK activator tBHQ confirmed that MTHFD2-knockdown inhibited the proliferation and migration of NPC cells via the ERK signaling pathway. MTHFD2 was up-regulated in NPC tissues and its high expression was linked to a poor prognosis. Knockdown of MTHFD2 inhibited proliferation and migration of NPC cells through the ERK signaling pathway, which may provide new clues and targets for the treatment of NPC. • MTHFD2 is upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and is associated with poor prognosis. • Knockdown of MTHFD2 inhibits proliferation and migration of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. • MTHFD2-knockdown suppresses the ERK signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of study were to evaluate the effect of: (i) initial treatments such as sonication (S), convective freezing (F), sonication combined with freezing (SF), microwave-vacuum (MWV), microwave-vacuum combined with convective freezing (MWVF) and cryogenic freezing (N) as well as; (ii) replacement of hot air convective drying (HACD) with microwave vacuum drying (MWVD) in the final stage of drying on: the drying kinetics, average drying rates (DR AVG), the content of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of osmotically dehydrated whole cranberries. HACD of fruits took from 740 to 950 min. The use of microwaves instead of hot air in the final stage of drying (HACD + MWVD) reduced the drying time, which took from 80 to 493 min. DR AVG of HACD + MWVD was more than one order of magnitude larger than DR AVG of HACD. The use of microwaves during initial treatment and drying resulted in the shortest drying time, i.e. 20 min and the highest DR AVG, i.e. 0.092 kg H 2 O/kg DM/min. HACD + MWVD resulted in significantly higher contents of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of fruits than HACD. Among different pretreatments used in the present study, sonication and freezing (S, F, SF) gave the best results in terms of drying time and final product quality. • Microwave-assisted drying increases the drying rate and shortens the drying time. • Microwave-assisted drying increases the antioxidant activity of fruits. • Microwave-assisted drying results in high contents of bioactive compounds of cranberries. • Among different treatments, sonication and freezing give the best results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical nutrition treatment can manage diabetes and slow or prevent its complications. The comparative effects of micronutrient supplements, however, have not yet been well established. We aimed at evaluating the comparative effects of vitamin and mineral supplements on managing glycemic control and lipid metabolism for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to inform clinical practice. Electronic and hand searches for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were performed until June 1, 2022. We selected RCTs enrolling patients with T2DM who were treated with vitamin supplements, mineral supplements, or placebo/no treatment. Data were pooled via frequentist random-effects network meta-analyses. A total of 170 eligible trials and 14223 participants were included. Low to very low certainty evidence established chromium supplements as the most effective in reducing fasting blood glucose levels and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (SUCRAs: 90.4% and 78.3%, respectively). Vitamin K supplements ranked best in reducing glycated hemoglobin A1c and fasting insulin levels (SUCRAs: 97.0% and 82.3%, respectively), with moderate to very low certainty evidence. Vanadium supplements ranked best in lowering total cholesterol levels with very low evidence certainty (SUCRAs:100%). Niacin supplements ranked best in triglyceride reductions and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels with low to very low evidence certainty (SUCRAs:93.7% and 94.6%, respectively). Vitamin E supplements ranked best in reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels with very low evidence certainty (SUCRAs:80.0%). Our analyses indicated that micronutrient supplements, especially chromium, vitamin E, vitamin K, vanadium, and niacin supplements, may be more efficacious in managing T2DM than other micronutrients. Considering the clinical importance of these findings, new research is needed to get better insight into this issue. [Display omitted] • Chromium supplements ranked best in reducing FBG levels and HOMA-IR for T2DM. • Vitamin K supplements ranked best in reducing HbA1c and fasting insulin levels. • Vanadium supplements ranked best in lowering TC levels for T2DM. • Niacin supplements ranked best in TG reductions and increasing HDL-c levels. • Vitamin E supplements ranked best in reducing LDL-c levels for T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]